New MD for Stagecoach West

Current Stagecoach West MD, Ian Manning, will retire on 31 May 2014. Rupert Cox, currently Acting Operations Director, will become MD on 1 June 2014. Rupert began his career in the bus industry while at University, working in the schedules office at Wilts & Dorset Buses in Poole. He joined Stagecoach on the company’s Graduate Development Programme in 2001 and took on his first managerial role two years later as Commercial Manager for Stagecoach West. In 2007, he moved to Stagecoach Yorkshire as Commercial Director where he stayed until 2013 when he returned to Stagecoach West as Acting Operations Director.

When Ian Manning retires on 31 May, there will be a Running Day featuring vintage vehicles which will also celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Cheltenham District Traction Co. Ltd. Following a brief spell in the steel industry, Ian joined the bus sector in 1976 in the planning department at Lothian Regional Transport in Edinburgh. Three years later he joined Scottish Bus Group subsidiary W. Alexander & Sons (Northern) as Assistant Planner and was appointed as SBG Group Commercial Officer in 1981. He later moved to Clydeside Scottish before landing the role of Operations Manager at Southdown Motor Services in Chichester in 1989. Shortly afterwards the company was sold to Stagecoach and he was made redundant, quickly moving on to become Deputy County Passenger Transport Officer at Buckinghamshire County Council. Having written four books on the Portuguese bus industry, in 1996 he became MD of Stagecoach Portugal. He moved to Arriva’s Portuguese operations in 2001 but returned to Stagecoach in 2004 as MD of Stagecoach West.

Stagecoach UK Bus MD, Robert Montgomery, said, ‘I would like to congratulate Rupert on his appointment. He has worked hard and risen through the ranks at Stagecoach over the past 13 years and thoroughly deserves this new role. I would also like to pay tribute to Ian Manning for the service he has given Stagecoach over many years. Ian is a passionate and knowledgeable busman who has shown great commitment to improving public transport in the west of England over the past 11 years. His experience, both in the UK and overseas, throughout his career has been invaluable to us and we wish him every success in his retirement.’

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